What is it that characterizes any nation without much words and long explanations? Dances, of course, because it is these movements, refined over centuries, that can tell a foreigner about other peoples much more than thick history books. If you carefully watch and feel the way people dance in different countries, their mind set will become much more comprehensible. And these aren’t mere words.
It has been proven more than once that body language is a true continuation of thoughts and feelings of a person and it uncovers even things that sit deep in subconscious. We decided to tell you about some folk dances that particularly impressed us. So, should you plan to emigrate without knowing language and traditions, you can confidently start with moves, such knowledge will not be spare – that’s for sure.
Parasol Dance, Japan
In fact, fine and graceful moves have nothing to do with either geishas or erotic, as common misconception is. Nor is it a variation of the famous dance with fans. Let’s try and figure out: Higasa Odori is an ancient ritual of Japanese salutary way of conduct. Delicate young girls with parasols, normally at court, used to meet delegates and dear guests form other states. The ceremony caught special fancy of Chinese guests. At that, performance of the dance differed depending on who it was to come and visit. Many years later the moves left palaces and Japanese women began bringing joy of such beauty to ordinary people by dancing in squares of cities in early spring. Nowadays Higasa Odori is a major culture attribute of the Land of the Rising Sun that is appreciated as historic heritage and preserved in compliance with traditions.Photo wowu.jp
Capoeira, Brazil
Despite the fact that majority of Brazilians are quite peaceful and romantic, from time to time their excessively peppery temper demands some blowoff. This is probably why they invented capoeira – martial art with elements of dance that gained popularity all over the world due to its spectacularity. First mention of fighters&dancers appeared as far back as in 16th century. Over the years the dance that has its roots in Africa, because it was there from where slaves brought it to Brazil, was more than once both prohibited and enjoying all kinds of support on state level. Nowadays Capoeira is the same kind of brand as Brazilian football players and local coffee. It is considered international and is used everywhere and anywhere, starting with movies starring Mark Dacascos and ending with video games.Photo u2guide.com
Square Dance, USA
Origins of this dance that is stipulated as “official” in many states of North America date back to 19th century. It was finally shaped in 20th century when it perfectly matched country music. Pace of a track is considered important, thus best number of beats per minute constitutes 120-128 - this way dancers make one step per bar. Square Dance incorporated elements from mostly Irish but also other British dances yet it is hard to confuse it for anything else: four couples make a square and preserve it the whole time. The dance doesn’t require any kind of special clothing but women still prefer swaying in dresses while men choose cowboy hats and boots thus paying tribute to the country that gave this style to the world.Photo tes.com
Lezginka, countries of Caucasus
It is a true trademark of all peoples who live in Caucasus. This quick and emotional dance together with national music reflects this beyond-words state of “rich soul of the highlanders”. History of Lezginka is really long and today it is impossible to positively state who exactly was it to demonstrate it first and when it happened. This eternal dispute that has been on among ethnic groups of Caucasus will hardly ever be resolved. It is probably for the best because each of them has motivation to perform Lezginka better and better to be able to say: “we dance it so great because it was our people who came up with it”. For those unaware: male moves imitate an eagle while female – a swan, it is important to interpret them properly not to offend vulnerable Caucasians.Photo pinterest.com
Senegalese Sabar
African dance, that got its name after the famous drum, constantly makes it to lists of “the sexiest” and “the loosest” ones. Almost every part of human body is used in the moves, this electrifies the air incredibly and everyone feel like following an impulse. One of the main tourist attractions of Dakar is Sabar Parties during which whole districts dance all night long with people forgetting all problems and other things to do to their own content. The word is that 21st century may become a century of this dance of all others because although being unveiled to the world relatively recently (in late 20th century) it has already gained incredible popularity in all nooks of our planet.Photo nytimes.com
Polka, Czech Republic
Contrary to entrenched stereotype, this popular European dance didn’t originate in Poland but in the lands of Bohemia in the middle 19th century. All in all, due to its etymology, Polka isn’t interpreted properly when they say that it comes from “pulka” that means “half-step” and is confused for Swedish dance Polska. Almost immediately after its emergence, the dance spread to many European countries where it was adjusted in own way, but still, in various competitions and festivals Czech version is considered a paragon. Photo milwaukeemag.com
In a local history museum in every country you visit, you will certainly notice similar archaeological finds - fragments of clay products. Pottery, born millennia ago, but “living” even today, can rightfully be considered one of the most tenacious one. The uniqueness of clay was noticed by our distant ancestors who lived in caves ...
When I, as a little girl, for the first time passed my hand over trimmed bush, my palm got scratched with sharp edges of twigs and lasting arborvitae fragrance hit my nose. Mesmerized, I was not able to take my eyes away from the cones, balls and squares that surrounded me in the park of a small resort town. I felt like being inside a fairy tale, where behind the leaves I could notice a smile of the Cheshire Cat.
The architecture of temples has interesting and sometimes controversial history. Quite often the novelties and fundamentals of movements in architecture started with the building of temples with sophisticated design. The Polish Roman Catholic churches are rather bright in their beauty.
Dazzling flashes of ancient knowledge manifested in colourful shimmering beads and in elaborated yarn mosaics by Huichol Indians, captivate the imagination calling for an endless journey through branches of the world tree. Spiritual images take on flesh in intricate ornaments that accompany a Mexican peasant throughout his life.
There’s hardly anything that compares to bright-starred sky and silence. It is the stars that OUTLOOK want to tell you about or more precisely about the places with the best view on them. In Europe it is recommended to go stargazing not to some place but to… Slovenia. Point is, this small country is one of the cleanest in the world and consequently isn’t that polluted with smog.
Daily life of African tribes may seem bizarre even for the natives of the continent. Only nature and curious travellers dare to met face to face with distinctive local atmosphere and unusual life of ethnic groups residing outside metropolis.
Remember how the little prince taught to see not a hat, but a boa constrictor digesting an elephant? So, in San Francisco you have the opportunity to see the street part of which is swallowed by a boa. A serpent Lombard Street crawled into almost all the Frisco city guides.
Ice cream with a taste of horse meat, pickled insects, fish with deadly venom, etc – Japanese cuisine has things to surprise, amaze and shock you with. And truth be told, enumeration of these dishes doesn’t help my appetite at all. But we are not after exotic stuff. True culinary tourism is an attempt to comprehend mindset and feel national distinctive color through traditional cuisine – not try most exotic dishes.
The first thing every tourist shall learn in a country is a transport system. Very often it seems to be complicated and confusing, and it takes weeks or even months to make head or tail of it. OUTLOOK reader Natalia Usenko visited Japan and is sharing her impressions about the most comfortable and safest transport in the world.
Composers of antiutopias predict hundreds of sorrows to the people of the future who are from times to times forbidden to celebrate weddings, however, it seems, everything is not so terrible. In Chinese province Yun Nan near the foot of Himalayas the matriarch tribe mosuo resides that is not familiar with the concept of marriage at all.
Impressions of this city depend much on what you have visited before being introduced to it. After Los Angeles it may seem very business-like and culturally rich, after New York – provincial and old-fashioned somehow. In any case, it has a bright and memorable face of a gentleman from Massachusetts.
Lighthouse - this word evokes beautiful associations: sea adventures, storms, huge ships. And we do not want to dispel these thoughts, but rather to add fuel to the fire. There is a great amount of them in the world, they are striking by their beauty and inimitable. Today we are sharing with you the quintet of amazing lighthouses!
Each of us wants to escape rush of a city from time to time and lie low somewhere far from everything and anything. And it better be a place where one can listen to whisper of waves, feel light breeze and forever make friends with inimitably loud silence that muffles every disturbing thought…
Bali is one of the most popular places to spend winter. Ocean, volcanoes, amazing nature and exotic fruits... But there is also one more reason that not many people know of, yet it definitely deserves attention: Kamasan, a unique art village where namesake Balinese picture art was conceived – as ancient as the island itself. We are going to tell about it today on the pages of the OUTLOOK.
Austrian tour operators launched an unusual touristic tourdesigned for fans of singing style called yodel. Hikers wander through the Ziller Valley, a broad trail narrows opening the way for only the most avid travellers, then track leads upwards. Tourists look into the interactive station shaped as a giantsonorous walk-in cowbell, then they go around thelargest alpine horn and head to place...
A mini toast, a slice of cheese and a sip of strong coffee. "That is not a buffet!" a waiter will pronounce indignantly, looking at the disgruntled tourist’s face. The generous Ukrainian soul cannot understand how locals manage to eat their full with that. Therefore, before going to a new country, you need to know exactly whether in the evening you should prepare a couple of sandwiches to indulge them in the morning,...
In Japan there is a city with the citizens who trust each other. It seems that they drink water from one source that flows along their houses. As well, they wash hands after the meals in the same places. Satoyama in translation means an ideal place for life in harmony with the nature. It is situated in Northern prefecture Gifu that is isolated from the rest of the world with the mountain tops and rice fields.
The New Year in Ukraine did not always start with a Christmas tree, and instead of Santa Claus and Snow Maiden, guests were waiting fora minx girl - Malanka and motor-boy Vasyl accompanied by the retinue. All the follies were out of hand: the ridiculed riddles carried a sacred content, dictated by the logic of the myth of the duel of spring and winter.
In Gudauri it is easy to feel time, pinch it between your fingers and stretch it in space, tuning up your inner rhythm to a sensation mode. There are no deadlines, annoying neighbours and reckless guys driving out to oncoming traffic lane. All this hustle and bustle seem illusory and momentary. Here, in Gudauri values are different. The mountains do not tolerate fuss, inner dialogue and self-criticism. The greatest pleasure is just to contemplate at them.
For certain reasons there are two capitals in America – official and actual. Context manager from Kyiv Bohdan Yanchev visited them both and told us about spirits of these cities, about their landmarks and about what they represent in reality. If you think that New York is imbued with expensive perfumes and there is nothing else to do in Washington but to lie on a lawn by the White House – you are wrong!
Photo wowu.jp
Photo u2guide.com
Photo tes.com
Photo pinterest.com
Photo nytimes.com
